Cholera Strikes Again In Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has reported new cases of cholera months after declaring the end of a previous outbreak that killed over 700 people in 18 months.
On Wednesday, health officials confirmed a new cholera outbreak in Kariba District, where 21 cases have been recorded and one person has died.
The Kariba district medical officer, Dr. Godfrey Muza said the government is working to contain the situation. He said (via VOA):
We have set up a cholera equipment camp and some oral rehydration points within the affected villages.
We are getting assistance from local and regional partners like MSF [Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders] and UNICEF.
Our teams are on the ground doing risk communication and community engagement activities on health promotion, hygiene promotion and assisting the community in terms of improving sanitation.
Dr Norman Matara of Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights said the government must address the underlying conditions that allow waterborne diseases like cholera to spread. He said:
In public health, we often say cholera is a disease of poverty which mainly affects people with inadequate access to safe water and basic sanitation.
In Zimbabwe, we have witnessed perennial cholera outbreaks in recent years and these outbreaks are being caused by a lack of safe drinking water supply and a broken-down sanitation system which leaves residents in densely populated communities surrounded by flowing sewer.
This sewer will then contaminate alternative sources of water such as shower wells, streams, rivers and even boreholes resulting in people drinking or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacteria.
Matara said that for Zimbabwe to get out of this cycle of recurring cholera outbreaks, it needs to do the following:
We need to make sure that our hospitals are well-supposed with real addressing solutions and medicines so that people can be assisted.
… Also, in those high-risk communities, especially in towns and urban cities, we may give them the oral cholera vaccine so that they may be protected.
In the long term, the government needs to invest more in proper sanitation facilities and infrastructure as well as make sure that people are provided with clean safe water for drinking and cooking.
In August, the Zimbabwean government declared the 18-month-long cholera outbreak officially over. The outbreak had affected nearly 35,000 people and claimed more than 700 lives.
This is not the first time Zimbabwe has faced a cholera crisis. In 2008, a devastating outbreak reported over 98,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths.
More: Pindula News
